Thursday, October 02, 2008

Blinding Flashes Of Intellect ...Just When We Needed It!

After reading Treppenwitz's posting Yonah 2.0 back in July, my wife and I noticed a remarkable similarity between the symptoms exhibited by his four year-old son before his adenoid removal surgery and those exhibited by our four year-old son. Our son woke up numerous times each night gasping for breath, was extremely grumpy during the day, had somewhat slurred speech, and kept his mouth open most of the time to be able to breathe easier. When he played outside, he would quickly stop running and either sit down or go over to my wife and I and rest his head on us.

Shortly after reading Treppenwitz's posting, we made an appointment for our son to see a ENT doctor. The ENT doctor confirmed our suspicion, said that our son's adenoids were causing an 80% blockage of the breathing in his nose, and recommend that we schedule surgery to have them removed.

My wife scheduled the surgery for the week before Rosh Hashana and I wrote to Treppenwitz to tell him about it. Treppenwitz kindly responded, "If you will send me his Hebrew name a day or two before the surgery I'll be sure to include him in my tefilot." I did just that, and also sent a request to numerous others to keep him in mind on that day.

Baruch Hashem, the surgery went extremely smoothly - perhaps in the merit of all the tefillos that were said on his behalf. A half hour after we returned home from the surgery my son already wanted to ride his bike. I coaxed him inside and we played Legos for awhile, however a few hours later he was on his bike and zooming around the neighborhood. It was amazing to see since a few days earlier he had to get off his bike and catch his breath after only a few short minutes.

The night following his surgery, he slept soundly and quietly. When he woke up the next morning, we also noticed that he seemed to be happier and more full of energy. Instead of quickly tiring out and putting his head down on us, he ran and skipped around while doing moves that resembled Riverdance.

Days after the surgery, neighbors and other family members remarked that they noticed a remarkable improvement in his energy level and temperament as well. Having his adenoids removed certainly seemed to give our son a new lease on life.

I would like to thank Treppenwitz from the bottom of my heart for writing his posting about his four year-old son. By doing so, he helped another four-year old suffering from a similar problem thousands of miles away.

It's a lesson on many levels, I think. When I was a kid, most other kids had their tonsils out at one time or other, often with their adnoids.

As I became a teen, this surgery was falling out of "vogue" and was considered unnecessary and unenlightened. Until Trep's post, I've only heard of a few kids who have had their tonsils &/or adnoids out, from among those of my friends who are now parents.

It's important to reevaluate "common wisdom" in the light of new information, but we are often quick to discard actual wisdom with hubris and abandon. As with almost everything, the golden path, a measured balance, is best.

May he always be riverdancing and well-rested, and have a complete and speedy recovery from the surgery.

Each one of those symptoms seems so mild, in itself. I'm so glad that, from reading the Treppenwitz post, you recognized what was going on in your own son and made the call to the doctor. I'm sure your son will soon be driving you crazy with his new-found energy (but in a GOOD way, of course :).

Wishing your whole family a year of happiness and good health! LeShanah Tovah!

That's great! Very happy for the happy ending. I know how those differences with kids behavior can make such a big difference in their lives. And I'm sure "treppenwitz" is shepping a lot of nachas, knowing that his post helped someone!